Love my cold shower every morning! It’s one place where I tend to get a runners high the most often, that feeling after a long, 20 mile run. Why not inflict more pain on myself? Why not stick the shower on -50 and freeze to death? After all there is magic in misery. I have one every morning whether I’m running or not, when I say a cold shower, I don’t mean for the whole time I’m in the shower, I put it on hot too, don’t want you thinking I smell or something!

“You step in the shower, you nervously turn it down to really, really, cold, teeth grinding cold, so you’re freezing, your heart’s pounding, you’re in pain, you just want to go back to bed, why the hell have I turned this shower to cold, I just want to be warm, it’s cold, really, really, cold, come on, you’ve got to get me out, please, get me out, now, now, now can I get out, ah, that actually felt pretty, pretty damn good, I might try that again tomorrow.”

Now if you’re a runner reading this you’ll pretty much be able to relate to these thoughts, the thoughts of your MIND telling you to get out whilst your HEARTS telling you to continue. Whether it’s a cold shower or a marathon, they’re pretty much the same thoughts you go through, the truth is, pain in the form of exercise is addictive, nothing’s better than an addiction, a runners high addiction.

Change Your Thinking

This week I’ve been following Eddie Izzard’s #MakeHumanityGreatAgain campaign, he’s running 28 marathons in 28 days that’s not easy, the pain he’s having to go through to complete them miles is unbearable, not forgetting the ice baths he’s having to endure. Whilst there’s pain, there’s also an addiction element, that feeling once you complete a marathon, it’s amazing, it’s like you’re on top of the world, that’s why I have a cold shower every morning, it prepares the body for battle, it’s a way of telling your body to get ready.

Next time it’s raining, cold, dark and miserable outside, tell yourself, no, I’m going out in this weather, believe me you’ll feel amazing once you’ve ran the miles you want to run, it might be hard, your MIND might be telling you to stop but believe me, when you continue, when you beat your brain and charge through, you’ll feel incredible. Tweet me and let me know how you get on, together we’ll win…